Pages

27 November 2017

That Island Life

For our honeymoon, Mr. Fisher and I decided on Hawaii. There were a few reasons for this - he had never been, it's gorgeous with great weather the time of year we were going, and seeing volcanoes was on his bucket list. And we wanted a relaxing vacation.

Oh we had such a good time. We'll look back at pictures and say, I wish we were back there.

We decided to leave on the Monday after the wedding. We would have felt very rushed trying to make an 8:30am flight the morning after the wedding. Leaving Monday meant we could relax on Sunday, see family, get our stuff from the wedding back to the apartment and get packed.

Pre-flight drink? Well, yes, thank you! I went with a mimosa and Mr. Fisher tried his first ever Bloody Mary. He wasn't a fan.

We decided at the last minute to rent a car, which was incredible foresight on our part as we would need it later. Initially we thought we would just take a shuttle to the resort but three days before we left we made the switch to a rental car. We landed about 2pm, picked up our car, and went to Target.

Yup, our first stop in Hawaii was Target. We were staying at a resort with a full kitchen and we wanted to pick up some breakfast items, some wine, some bottled water, and a few snacks to keep on hand at the hotel. It would have been expensive to buy on property, so we made a Target run first.

We stayed at the Hilton Kings Land Resort in Waikoloa. We loved it there. We would definitely stay there again. Staying at Kings' Land, we had access to the Hilton Waikoloa Village and all the shops and restaurants. It's also close to two other outdoor marketplaces with shops and restaurants and it is right on the water, so the views are stunning. If you are thinking of staying on the Big Island, I can't recommend Kings' Land enough. They were even sweet enough to have a bottle of prosecco brought to our room the first night to celebrate our honeymoon.

Obligatory towel animals!

Tuesday morning we woke up to this glorious sunrise. Mr. Fisher and I enjoyed coffee on the patio and took it in.

We got dressed in workout gear and went for a 5 mile walk around the area. It was so beautiful and the landscape is like nothing else. Because of the volcanic rock, you get these lush trees but then these rocky areas It's oddly beautiful.

We made our way down to the beach and just soaked it all in for a few minutes before walking back to our hotel.

Our plan for the day was to hang out at the lagoon at Hilton Waikoloa Village. I relaxed in the sun and Phillip rented a kayak and paddled around the lagoon for a bit.

I got out in the kayak for a little while and then I rented a paddleboard. I loved it. Mr. Fisher wanted a turn.

He was enjoying it too. And then our plans for the day took a little bit of a turn. He fell off the board in a shallow part of the lagoon and sliced open his foot on a rock. He was bleeding all over the place. He probably should have gotten a stitch or two. We asked the rental hut if they had a first aid kit and we snagged a couple of bandaids which did nothing. It was lunch at that point so we headed back to the hotel room (thank goodness for the car). Phillip decided he was going to clean it with soap and water to make sure there was no sand or anything in the cut, wrap it tight, elevate and try to get the bleeding to slow.

Since he was laying low, I took the opportunity to head to the Kohala Spa at the village and got a massage and a facial. When I was done, Mr. Fisher was doing better and had made his way to the poolside bar, so I joined him for a drink.

This was our view for dinner. #swoon

We had reservations at Lava Lava Beach Club and I would recommend it to anyone. The food was great, the service was good, and the view was incredible. I had the chicken pineapple rice and oh it was so good. Mr. Fisher had a burger and he thought it was pretty good (he's a bit of a burger snob, so pretty good is high praise).

Mr. Fisher was feeling fine on Wednesday and we had a tour booked with Wasabi Tours for the Twilight Volcano Tour. I started the day with Zumba in the courtyard followed by the breakfast buffet and then it was time to meet the tour bus. This was the thing that Mr. Fisher had been looking forward to the most in this whole trip.

We drove through the island up between the mountains (Mauna Loa and Kilauea) and over to Hilo on the east side of the island. One of our stops as Rainbow Falls and it was beautiful.

There is a Banyan Tree there at Rainbow Falls. It was ENORMOUS. To understand the scale, look to the right and see how small the people are standing next to it! It looks like a good climbing tree though.

After Rainbow Falls, we went to a black sand beach and it too was beautiful. The black sand is very different from other kinds of sand. I found it to be softer and not sticky like other sand. It was really cool to look at.

We caught a glimpse of Hawaii's state bird, the Nene Goose (a cousin to the Canadian Goose).

This is a part of the park where there had previously been lava activity and now it is all rock with minimal vegetation. It is such a crazy landscape. It's hard to imagine that at one point, there was lava where we were standing.

We got to tour a lava tube and walk through rainforest. There are no seasons in the rainforest, and because of that there are no tree rings. And that's your Hawaii fun fact for the day.

The final part of the tour took us to the top of the park and the viewing area where we could see the glow from the crater. The picture does not do it justice. Mr. Fisher absolutely loved it. This was THE REASON we came to Hawaii. Mission Accomplished.

We lounged by the pool a lot the rest of the time we were there. We really wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to relax, unwind, and just do nothing.

Thursday night we had reservations at a nearby resort restaurant for dinner. I packed this little dress. It is so easy to wear. Pair with your favorite shoes and jewelry and you are ready to go. And bonus, this dress makes your legs look amazing.

We had dinner at The Canoe House and oh my stars. We had one of THE BEST tables in the house, right on the water. It was already dark by the time we got there for our reservation or I would have taken a picture.

I did snag a picture of my lobster dinner. Oh it was so so good. One of the best lobster dishes I've ever had.

I think by Friday we had hit peak relaxation. We spent the day by the pool, just enjoying the quiet and some frosty beverages.

I managed to get this dress on super clearance at Loft over the summer and I knew it was going to be perfect for Hawaii. My makeup turned out better than usual that day. I used this Charlotte Tilbury palette. It is practically foolproof.

For our final night in Hawaii, we had tickets to a luau. Delicious food, good music, dancing, it was the perfect way to wrap up our Hawaiian adventure.

The luau was so much fun. We were right on the lagoon and it was a perfect night.

Saturday morning was our last day on the island. Our flight was taking off at 10:30pm. Our check out was technically on Sunday. I loved this. We were able to do whatever we wanted on Saturday and not worry about checking out. We were able to go back to the room and shower and change before heading to the airport. We started Saturday with breakfast at Mai Grille. The food was excellent. They had the football games on. It was sort of weird to be eating breakfast at 9am with college football on in the background already.

We enjoyed one more day relaxing by the pool, drinking lava flows, and enjoying the quiet.

We absolutely loved our time on the Big Island. We cannot wait to go back again!

My Poshmark Closet

Affiliate Links

Affiliate links are used on occasion throughout this blog and all forms of social media. This blog (and social media) contains cookies and clicking on some links can result in compensation for blog author or others.